"We can't allow things that are inaccurate to stand." — The Word of Our Dan, February 19, 2008.

Friday, July 31, 2009

Prerequisite

The Nunatsiavut Government is interested in taking the first, tentative, and relatively inexpensive steps towards a possible future road link to the North Coast of Labrador, and are even willing to put up 80,000 of their own beans towards the preliminary feasibility study, a study which they have been promoting for the past three years. The $80,000 is said to represent 40% of the costs of such a study.

For some reason, the province of which Labrador is supposedly a part doesn't want to play along.In an interview on Wednesday with Paul Pigott of CBC's Labrador Morning [audio podcast link], Nunatsiavut First Minister Tony Andersen offers his explanation for the provincial government's reticence:

The thing that sort of was disappointing for us is some of [Minister Hickey's] statements seems to be that this could take probably thirteen, fourteen years before the [Trans-Labrador Highway] is completed. And we had asked the province to do a feasibility study in extending the Trans-Labrador into Nunatsiavut, and we saw this in phases as well. The first phase of which would connect the communities of Rigolet, Makkovik and Postville into the Trans-Labrador. Responses again that we have had, from three different transportation ministers, "we will not entertain at all a feasibility study until the current work on the Trans-Labrador is done." Now, if that is thirteen, fourteen years away, that means, according to the letters that I have, that we're gonna have to wait thirteen, fourteen years for a feasibility study.

Back in 2004, curiously enough, there was no such hesitancy on the provincial side, and certainly no requirement that the Trans-Labrador Highway be "done", before launching holus-bolus into the $350,000, promptly shelved, "pre-feasibility study" into the Danny Williams Memorial Tunnel.